Five Times
by occupationfangirling
Summary: Select five times from Sirius and Harper's complicated relationship from friends to lovers.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Get used to my new writing style! Lots and lots of descriptive work because that is now what I'm currently about :) For visual reader, when I wrote this, I had Eoin Macken (Gwaine in Merlin) as Sirius (but younger I suppose but still HOT DAMN). Okay won't bother you with author note's anymore, enjoy and you know what to do x**

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Seventh Week of Seventh Year.

Despite the fact that it was at an ungodly time of one o'clock in the morning, Sirius and Harper were still awake. Their friends were long asleep; Remus had gone as far as to give them another verbal beating on the importance of organisational skills and especially so in seventh year before retiring to his dormitory barely past ten, and James and Peter had excused themselves for the presence of their beds at the early hour of eleven o'clock. Those cowards.

No, instead, the two friends were graced with the presence of stacks of books on books, scrolls of parchments littering the table in the Gryffindor common room. They were in fact up for Professor Slughorn's weekly test, as the both of them had neglected it for other commitments of greater importance – they thought the look on Haworth's face when he realised his hair was dyed a semi-permanent colour of hot pink was worth the effort of trying to sneak into the Ravenclaw common room (they only had to have 5 separate goes answering the riddles) for the past week, but here they were, nearly half past two, so who's to say it was worth it or not?

Though frantic they were in their minds, repeating lines from the offensively thick book about the uses of asphodel and the differences between its powdered and fresh usage and the reason why hemlock essence was added before tormentil tincture in doxycide, in the unlikely instance they were interrupted at this ungodly time, the intruder would be presented with a rather serene scene - the crackling of the dying fire, a few flickering candles and the occasional drip of its wax onto the common room floor, along with the rather annoying, though fortunately infrequent melody of Sirius' quill against the parchment. They would also see Harper's hunched figure over the large armchairs, her eyes only half opened, skimming over the miniscule text of the book, and they would see Sirius' hair rather unkempt – how appalling – after the hundredth time of him running his fingers through them out of frustration.

In such a lulling atmosphere, the air thick with the smokiness of the fireplace, it did not take much more for Harper's eyes to finally, blissfully, shut. Her head drooped over her cross-legged figure, and the musty book that she held escaped the grip of her slack hands, falling to the floor with a loud thud.

Sirius' tired eyes snapped in the direction of the offender of his peaceful silence, his eyes narrowing when he saw Harper's sleeping figure.

"Oh Godric," he only managed to mutter, hints of annoyance bubbling up in his stomach. Though really, it was for a good reason and for the best that he was still up studying, he would not have been if Harper had not insisted that she needed company. No, he would be in his bed, fast asleep. Now ironically, she was the one asleep.

"Harper."

He was met with only heavy breathing.

Grumbling under his breath, Sirius pushed his chair back, a sharp creak as the wooden leg of the chair rubbed against the floor, and he strode over to his sleeping friend. He kneeled, his face glancing up to her face, hidden dark over her hunched figure.

"Harper."

She remained irresponsive.

Growing more concerned than annoyed now, Sirius gently shook her shoulders, and to his relief, she stirred.

Harper's eyes were only just opened, and with what was the dim light from the candles reflecting off them, Sirius could see how exhausted she was. She blinked slowly, her eyes meeting his.

They were disorientated, heavy lidded, yet at the same time, staring at him strikingly and it made Sirius feel uncomfortable, a knot starting to grow in the pits of his stomach.

Diverting his gaze from her sharp gaze, his eyes left her heavy ones, tracing down her cheeks. Sirius was surprised to find that they were hues of pink – slightly reddish towards the corner of her cheekbone with a gradual transition towards a more muted peachy colour towards the centre of her cheeks. They were lighter than usual, and perhaps, Sirius thought, that it must have been the trick of the dim light. Intrigued, his eyes dropped lower, and yet again, he was pleasantly surprised. His eyes feasted on the interesting the curve of her upper lips, the colour - not too bright and glossy, but were just soft, pillowy, and inviting. He had not given much thought to them previously, and now, only barely inches from her face, he could make out the faint outline, and he could almost see the light outlines from the outer edges of her lips and how they draw him towards the light peeks of teeth.

Sirius liked them and thought they looked just right. He thought he could devour them.

It was then the feelings of disgust hit him. This was his Harper Adlicio he was talking about, the coolest and funniest person he knew, someone who was in contending with James for the position of his best friend. To regard her as one of those girls he would shag and then toss aside the next day (not that he would mind the shagging part, but he had to forcibly stop himself from thinking any further than this), it felt derogatory, wrong and insulting to their seven yearlong friendship.

But the why are her lips, currently the centre of Sirius' attention, leaning towards his? He could feel the growing hotness, heaviness of her breath on his lips and cheek, and in the spur of the moment, perhaps the fact that he was sleep deprived; Sirius did not push her away. Instead, his eyes involuntarily fluttered closed.

To say the least, he was definitely surprised to not meet Harper's warm lips. Instead, he was met with the unnaturally cold air, and to his right shoulder, the weight of Harper's head. His eyes snapped open and skirting to his right, he could see Harper's hair, curls of golden brown lying loosely on the head atop of his shoulder, her back heaving softly yet again.

That bastard was asleep again.

Was she even awake in the first place?

Sirius let her lay on his shoulder for a few moment as he processed the array of feelings running through his head at the exact moment. Lingering feelings of disappointment settled along with the tightening knot in his stomach tightening. Then came the confusion as he wondered why in Godric's sake he was even disappointed in the first place. Then came feelings of reassurance. In his defence, he was rather sleep deprived, and not just then, but also an accumulation of sleep deprivation from the past few weeks with James' incessant pestering to get up at 5 o'clock every morning for Quidditch practice.

"Come on," he murmured softly, pushing her upwards from his shoulder and leaning her against the armchair. The swift motion must have been suffice because Harper jerked awake suddenly, inhaling sharply and blinking several times, this time with a renewed sense of awareness.

"What time is it?"

"Far too late to be up," he replied smartly, helping her up from the armchair. "You should go to bed. Can you make it up the stairs by yourself?"

"I suppose," she murmured softly, "Night Sirius."

He watched her affectionately as she made her way, wobbling slightly, towards the entrance of the girls' dormitory, disappearing out of sight as she went up the spiralling stairs. The foreign feeling, whatever it was, was long forgotten, and now Sirius could only think to finish the mundane task of ordering the stacks and stacks of books, parchments and quills before he could finally retire to his warm bed.


	2. Chapter 2

One week before Christmas.

Whilst Peter had opted to return home for the Christmas holidays, James, Remus, Harper and Sirius had decided to spend their Christmas at Hogwarts, with it being their last year here. It was the last time they would see the ridiculously tall fir trees adorned with glittery tinsel and baubles, floating candles around lighting the trees, the last time they would trek down the snowy slopes to the shabby tree beside the Great Lake, nose and cheeks red in the sharp coldness of the winter, and the last time they would roam the empty corridors with scarves thickly stacked upon their necks, the thick smell of sweet spice lingering in the air. It was their many last in the castle grounds, and though they knew that it was far from the last time they would spend together, they still felt an air of slowness and nostalgia in this place they have called home for so many years.

It was currently late evening; the orange bloom of the sunset momentarily lighting the sky and the Marauders had a newfound ritual where they gathered in the quiet, nearly empty common room. This occasion would generally only last briefly, a little under than hour especially in the midst of winter in England, before the sun sank behind the snowy mountains in the distance, but it was the temporal nature of the moment that made it special to the company as it reminded them of their fleeting times at Hogwarts. They would spend this time basking in the warm glow that filtered into the common room from the long square paned windows of the Gryffindor tower, not necessarily talking, but simply sitting in, and enjoying each other's presence.

Today, despite them without Remus' presence as he had offered his services to Professor Slughorn to help him make several potions for the infirmary, the remaining James, Sirius and Harper still promptly carried out as normal their new routine.

For Sirius, it was no different. He liked this moment of clarity and calmness in the midst of the hectic life of a seventh year. He appreciated immensely the time when he was in such great company and he never took the time he had with his friends for granted; they were more than he could ever ask for than that prejudicial one back in 12 Grimmauld Place. As of now however, there was one other person's presence he enjoyed just a little more.

She sat in front of him, curled up in an armchair, her wavy tousled waves of hair seeming brighter in the gleam of the sunset. Her head was tilted down, nose buried in yet another book.

Sirius gazed at her affectionately. Without his knowledge, somehow, it was as though it had all happened in a sudden, observing Harper had become his new favourite past time. I mean, sure he already knew that she would furrow her eyebrows whenever she was concentrating, and how she would always scrunch her nose when laughed too hard, how her eyes would glaze over and her expression replaced with the slightest blank expression when James would go on and on about Qudditich. He knew all that way back in fourth year. He just didn't realise just how often she did it. Like how right now, like all the previous times before, she would be too engrossed in the mundane task of reading that she would not notice his staring eyes.

As careful as Sirius was in engaging in his newfound hobby, he had not accounted for James, and the pairing of James' nosy self with yet his sharp observance, meant that he had the uncanny ability to pick out the slightest of the slightest detail. This was especially true when he already had a quiet suspicion of his two friends.

James was still rather thick though, so it took a little longer for him to figure things out.

Flicking his eyes between Sirius and Harper, James could see that Sirius had the most disgusting love-sick eyes that superseded the ones he gave Lily. Harper on the other hand, was blissfully unaware, hair tucked behind her ears, head down, her lips moving only just as she recited the words to the book that like her to Sirius, had caught her attention.

James had to check again. Sirius – lips curling upwards in the slightest fashion, eyes transfixed at the girl only sitting a coffee-table length away from him. Harper – oblivious to the attention she was getting, was still entranced by whatever book of the week she had her nose stuck in.

And for one last time, his eyes flitted back to Sirius. That ridiculous expression and that faint smile on his face that could definitely rival his own. Now that James starts remembering how Sirius hasn't pursued the long trial of admirers of his like he had done so for as long as he had been in Hogwarts and how handsy Sirius has been with Harper over the last few weeks, the mental cogs inside James' brain clicked.

His eyes widened as he let out a breath of disbelief. Sirius liked Harper.

The man who could have the whole castle – minus Lily of course – infatuated with Harper?

Huffing, though unsure what to feel, James stood up from his couch and plopped himself next to Sirius. Expectedly, Sirius barely gave James a quick glance before settling back into a sickly loving gaze at Harper.

James, annoyed by the lack of attention tugged at Sirius' robes, until Sirius' finally managed to tear his eyes from Harper.

"What?" Sirius demanded exasperatedly, his voice still low though, and James supposed it was not to disturb Harper.

James raised his eyebrows at his friend. "You think you could keep this away from me huh?" he replied in a playful tone, wagging his finger. James felt gleeful knowing Sirius' secret.

"What are you on about?"

"Oh come on! You know!"

"Not a clue. Mind letting me in on what I don't know?"

"You fancy her!" James replied accusatorily, and even without Sirius' reply, he had confirmation by the rush of colour into Sirius' cheeks.

"I – "

Sirius was quick to stop his stammers. He swallowed thickly, eyes dashing towards the direction of Harper, and he let out a breath of relief when he realised that Harper, so captivated by her book, did not even bat an eye at the boys' conversation. It must have been the drudgery seven years that she had to deal with, that she had learnt how to mute out the boys unconsciously.

"Keep your voice down," Sirius said in a hushed tone and James noted the stark contrast to his usual boisterous self. "And for the matter of fact, I do not."

"Then why are you staring at her?" James' quipped back.

"Because I can." Sirius paused, pursing his lips as he turned his attention back on Harper. He continued, "And because she looks lovely as well, you know, in the sun."

An incredulous expression plastered James' face. Was Sirius really that oblivious to his own feelings? It did seem like a plausible possibility; things did take a while to enter his dense stubborn skull, that is if it got through his thick luscious mane first. And this was coming from James, who was already rather slow too.

Shaking his head, he turned his head to glance at Harper and James had to admit that Harper really did look quite lovely. The light from the window behind Harper, hitting her hair just right to glisten them a gold colour, her head down as here long lashes sweep her grey eyes. Perhaps it was the serenity of the scene resembling an archaic painting of some sort that his grandmother enjoyed so dearly – a young woman with fair hair and skin, curled up cosily in an armchair, light filtering from behind like in the church – that lended Harper an air or divine, but James knew that Sirius' idea of Harper as lovely was not the same as his. Instead, it was the same as how he thought Lily's bright green eyes, luscious red hair and sprinkle of freckles were lovely. So in a romantic sense, and this was just so clearly evident by Sirius' stammers and blushes. And Sirius never stammered or blush, much less both together.

Oh that blind, blind fool.


	3. Chapter 3

p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-AU"Third week into the New Year. January. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-AU"Was it surprising that the seventh years had spontaneous parties? It shouldn't be. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-AU"The party was hosted by a group of Hufflepuffs who insisted that this was something of a late late late New Year's party, though really, it was just an opportunity to drink their hearts out without spending a single Galleon. span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /span/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-AU"As the last of the Hufflepuff fourth years were ushered back into their dormitories, it was then the alcohol came out. All the good stuff - dazzling bright bottles of gin, brandy, mead, whiskey, rum and beer lined the tables. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-AU"The comfortable beanbags and couches of the Hufflepuff common room had been pushed to the edge of the room to accommodate a larger space in the centre, of which had been converted to a dance floor, a charmed disco ball spinning overhead illuminating every surface of the floor with ever-changing brightly coloured light. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-AU"The atmosphere was light-hearted, and rightly so as it would be one of their last celebration as a cohort in Hogwarts, and also one of their last before the Professors really ramped up the workload for the coming NEWT exams, not that they haven't already. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-AU"There was one exception to this carefree mood though, and he sat sullenly on the edge of the couch, nursing his half-finished glass of butterbeer in his hand. Sirius. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-AU"Typically the centre of attention, whether it was in the dance floor or surrounded by a hoard of giggly girls, Sirius' drastic change in behaviour was so concerning that James had to so painfully excuse and remove himself deep in conversation with Lily, also dragging Remus to console him. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-AU"Sirius was having none of it though, as he continued to grumble inaudibly under his breath, crossing his arms in annoyance. The object of his annoyance, as James and Remus quickly caught on, was the scene that unfolded in front of him. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-AU"Harper. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-AU"She looked great as always, wearing a little slip that cut above her knees, her hair placed up in loose ponytail. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-AU"No. Harper wasn't the trigger to Sirius' foul mood. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 276.0pt;"span lang="EN-AU"Harper emand/em McLaggen. Dancing together. Too close for Sirius' liking (though truth to be told, they were only just a little than an arm's length away from each other) – that was what was really bothering him./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-AU"James and Remus shared a look of exasperation. Sirius was one daft boy./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-AU""What's the matter?" James entertained Sirius. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-AU"Sirius did not respond immediately, his eyebrows furrowed as he scrambled for words to string a legible sentence to convey the jumble of thoughts in his head and the mess of confusing emotions and feelings that rushed through his body, his head, heart and stomach. "Does she fancy him?" Sirius asked finally, a tone underlying tone of insecurity evident in his voice./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-AU""What is it to you?" Remus replied smoothly, one hand in his pocket of his trousers and another holding a glass of mead as he leant against edge of the sofa. He was amused at the situation. Sirius must not have been used to the feeling of pining for someone. For the past seven years, it had been the other way round; if there were no crowds of girls flocking around him, then they were giggling or gazing at him with googly eyes from a distance. Remus supposed that with Sirius actually pining for someone jarred him to reality. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-AU"Sirius struggled yet again for his words and it was another brief moment before he replied. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-AU""She could do better."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-AU""Oh? Pray tell." Remus drawled lazily, swirling the amber liquid in his hand. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-AU""Just look at her," Sirius complained. "You can't even see her dimples! That's how you know she's not smiling and having a good time." /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-AU"Remus rolled his eyes, and he only just managed to convince himself not to bang his head against the wall out of sheer frustration. Was Sirius that emotionally incapable that he still thinks that his feelings for Harper were purely platonic? Sure, maybe they may have started that way, but somewhere along the line, those feelings changed and now he was so utterly smitten by her in the way that no other person could render him so completely speechless. Not to mention Remus knew that Sirius would mount her in a heartbeat if he was given a chance, and it was not just because Sirius was a horny teenager. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-AU"Sirius continued, rambling slightly in a sour tone. "You would think she has better taste than McLaggen. His hair isn't as nice as mine you know." /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-AU""Well Lockhart has rather nice hair, don't you think Moony?" James suggested harmlessly. "Would that be a step up from McLaggen then?"/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-AU"Remus joined in, adding, "Granted, it's not as dark as yours but it is still shiny and you know, blonde is in."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 4.0in;"span lang="EN-AU"span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /span"He's a prat," Sirius interjected, voice harsh. span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-AU""Well, since we're on the topic of potential suitors for Harper," Remus trailed off, pausing as he scanned the room before continuing, "I think Cresswell would be a fine match." /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-AU""He's not bad looking, and I've heard he's a giver in bed," James went along, nodding his head thoughtfully, fighting the smirk on his face./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-AU""You're right!" Remus exclaimed, setting down his mead and clapping his hands together, "Have you heard what Marlene has said about him? I'm just glad Harper won't end up dissatisfied."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-AU""Hey! I – I'm a giver!" Sirius stammered, his cheeks flushed bright red. James snickered at his response, now unable to contain his amusement. "Just ask Atkinson, or- or Murphy. Or McCarthy for that matter. You know scratch that, you can ask every girl I've slept with and they'll tell you Sirius Black is a giver." /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-AU""Alright, alright, Sirius," Remus said condescendingly, patting Sirius' knees. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-AU"Sirius paused, narrowing his eyes and scoffing at Remus' tone. "I'm not jealous, you know of McLaggen," Sirius insisted defensively. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-AU""Never said you were."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-AU""Well, I knew you were going to."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-AU""I really wasn't, but now I just might."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 313.5pt;"span lang="EN-AU"Sirius huffed at Remus' smart reply, before downing the remainder of his butterbeer, irritated at the chuckles coming out of James' mouth. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-AU"He couldn't possibly be jealous could he?/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-AU"He took another glance at Harper, and immediately knew with a sinking feeling that jealousy was precisely what he felt. Though he had no right to be, he could feel waves of anger rippling through him as he noticed how close Harper was with McLaggen, her quirky little dance moves earnt raised eyebrows, but they captured the attention of Sirius. The tight knot in his stomach grew tighter, his jaw clenched and his muscles tensed as he watched her lean closer towards him, only to see her brush her lips across his cheek to whisper into McLaggen's ear./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-AU"Oh Godric. He had feelings for Harper. /span/p 


End file.
